Once a pillar of media freedom in Serbia, VOA now cedes ground to Russia, China

Serbia is one of the most strategically important countries in Southeast Europe — a region where the United States, Russia and China compete directly for influence. Moscow and Beijing are working aggressively to pull Serbia away from its path toward the European Union and to weaken Serbia’s ties with the West. In this environment, America’s ability to communicate clearly and credibly with Serbian-speaking audiences is essential.

For more than eight decades, the Voice of America has been that voice. Since 1943, VOA’s Serbian Service has broadcast uninterrupted through war, dictatorship, democratic transitions and shifting alliances. It has been one of America’s most trusted tools for explaining U.S. policy, countering hostile foreign narratives and promoting democratic values across Serbia and the broader Western Balkans.

Before President Donald Trump issued his March 14 executive order that effectively began dismantling VOA, the Serbian Service reached more than 20% of Serbia’s adult population each week — and millions more in Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia and North Macedonia. Serbian is the dominant language of the region and is often the language used by Russian and Chinese propagandists to spread disinformation and anti-American sentiment. Having a credible American voice in the Serbian language has been indispensable for countering those efforts.

VOA’s Serbian Service has played an important role in moments when U.S. interests depended on stability and reconciliation in the Balkans. Its reporting fostered dialogue across ethnic and political lines, promoting peace between Bosnia and Kosovo, and helped explain U.S. and NATO policies during key periods of regional transition. It also provided accurate and well-sourced coverage of U.S. support for Montenegro’s NATO membership during the first Trump administration.

The service has long been one of the most cited media sources in the Balkans on U.S. perspectives. VOA’s coverage of Washington — Congress, the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon — gave Serbian-speaking audiences reliable insight into America’s debates, decisions and democratic institutions. Its reporting was routinely rebroadcast by independent outlets across the region, many of whom rely on VOA as a counterweight to state-controlled or foreign-influenced media.

VOA Serbian journalist Braca Djordjevic (left) reports live from the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The Serbian Service is responsible for bringing news about the United States and its policies to its Serbian speaking audience.

Exclusive interviews regularly shaped public debate, including conversations with senior government officials in Serbia and Montenegro. Investigative reporting on Russian and Chinese influence operations was widely circulated and used by other VOA language services, expanding regional understanding of threats to democracy. And human-interest stories, such as a widely viewed feature on a Balkan food truck operating in Washington that drew more than 3.5 million views, helped audiences see the American experience through relatable, real-world stories.

With the service now silent, Serbia’s media landscape — much of which is directly or indirectly controlled by the government — has lost one of the few remaining independent sources of credible international news. This vacuum creates opportunities for Russian outlets such as Sputnik and RT, as well Chinese state media, to further increase their influence in a country that is critical to regional stability and U.S. strategic interests.

Reestablishing VOA’s Serbian Service would not be a symbolic gesture. It would be a practical, cost-effective investment in U.S. national security. Restoring this service would mean restoring America’s voice in a region where that voice matters — and where losing it has left the field open to adversaries who are working hard to shape the narrative in ways that undermine stability and U.S. interests.